Maina wa Njuguna
In summary:
• These common entrepreneurs’ journeys to exceptional successes are dotted by persistence and resilience inspite of the enormous challenges
• A sense of purpose, a drive that is unquenchable in order to provide solutions to existing gaps in the market place
DAVID STEWARD, 11.4 BILLION NET WORTH 🇺🇸
Multi-billionaire David Steward, a humble, quiet and somewhat stealth man is the wealthiest African American, Black or person of African heritage outside Africa.
With a whooping fortune of 11.4 billion USD, he is an apex gentleman, definitely at the top of the food chain.
He is the co-founder and chairman of World Wide Technology Inc. (WWT) which is a privately-held technology service (IT) provider based in St. Louis, Missouri. WWT is a global systems integrator that provides technology solutions to large organizations and government agencies.
Mr. David has credited his success to his deep Christian faith and has written a book, ‘Doing Business By The Good Book‘, 52 Lessons on Success Straight from the Bible
Billionaire David’s fortune have surged as the company has had tremendous 48% year-over-year growth for its strategic AI, cybersecurity and digital transformation services and solutions. WWT has also been expanding its global workforce internationally and more particularly in South America.
He started the company with his meger savings and struggled to pull the company through. Many a times, he went without pay to support the company. He wrote at one time, he had to rush and pull out his briefcase as his Lincoln vehicle was being repossessed outside his office.
David started from very humble beginnings. He was one of 7 siblings. His father Harold Steward was a mechanic, a trash collector, and janitor while his mother Dorothy Steward, was a homemaker.
ROBERT F SMITH, 10.8 BILLION NET WORTH 🇺🇸
Mr. Smith is the second wealthiest African American or person of African heritage outside Africa. For a long time he retained the top spot until recently when Mr. David Steward overtook him.
He is the founder, chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners. Vista Equity is a private equity firm specializing in technology, in Austin, Texas. The company manages over $101 billion in assets and focuses exclusively on investing in software companies.
Mr. Smith is worth 10.8 billion USD Real Time Net Worth per Forbes magazine.
According to Forbes magazine, Mr. Smith as a college student secured an internship at Bell Labs after calling the company every week for five months. Talk about persistence, that’s Mr. Smith.
NOTABLES
STRIVE MASIYIWA, 2.0 BILLION NET WORTH 🇿🇼 🇬🇧
Billionaire Masiyiwa is the founder and executive chairman of the international technology group Econet Global.
He is the first billionaire of Black Briton/ African decent. He as born in Zimbabwe, then moved to Zambia to where he got his formative primary and secondary education.
Mr. Masiyiwa telecommunications business faced Zimbabwe government interference under the late President Robert Mugabe and he was actually forced to walk away with almost nothing.
Mr. Masiyiwa was involved in a 5 year legal battle with the government of Mugabe that had denied him a mobile telecoms licence.
He chose to sell all businesses that relied on any type of government contracts, which at the time was 80%. Inspite of these enomerous challenges, he continued to grow and diversify the company’s business contracts. Econet Group is the global company and thriving company.
ROBYN RIHANNA FENTY, 1.4 BILLION NET WORTH 🇧🇧 🇺🇸
On the list is Rihanna Fenty a Barbadian American entrepreneur, pop and rhythm-and-blues (R&B) musician/ diva. She’s graced the list for the last 7 years since the launch of a beauty company Fenty Beauty in 2017.
Rihanna founded and launched a beauty company Fenty Beauty in 2017 with the help of French billionaire and the 4th richest man in the world Bernard Arnault, CEO and owner of the French luxury goods conglomerate LVMH.
Her 49.99% joint venture if the company is estimated to be worth USD 1.4 billion. Mr. Arnault owns the rest. The cosmetic beauty company has a broad range of product offerings popular across a range of skin tones and gender especially it’s Pro Filt’R Foundation.
BABATOPE (TOPE) AWOTONA, 1.4 BILLION NET WORTH 🇳🇬 🇺🇸
Tope Awotona is the founder and CEO of scheduling technology software company Calendly.
He built the brand and did it despite multiple obstacles and slammed doors that is deeply demoralizing and depressing to many that have had these kinds of experiences.
Having had scheduling issues, the back and forth emails, set and reset appointments, he researched and could not find anything in the market that would make this an easy task. That was the genesis of the momentous company that is streamling meetings and scheduling all over the world.
Mr. Awotona had first-hand challenges experienced by minorities seeking funding. According to Crunchbase, only 0.48% percent of all the VC funding in 2023 went to Black founders. To put it in perspective,0.48% is about $661 million out of $136 billion.
Common reasons for the dismal funding can be attributed to: • Affinity bias by majority culture that hold the cards • Lack of mentorship and networks among minorities and women.
TYLER PERRY, 1.4 BILLION NET WORTH 🇺🇸
The CEO of Tyler Perry Studios, Tyler is an American actor, filmmaker, and playwright. He owns 100% of the content he has produced or produces.
Tyler dealt with a horrific emotional and physical abuse from his father growing up and it had a profound impact on him. He also a survivor of sexual molestation by some adults around his circles as a young boy.
For 7 straight years, Tyler worked odd minimum wage jobs to save up money to stage his plays. All those times had nearly empty theaters and pilled up on his loses, yet he did not quit, until one night when he filled up a theater and never looked back.
“Things that come easily may not be as appreciated as the things you work hard for, that you struggle for” – Tyler Perry
Tyler Perry
Tyler’s compassion has been very evident because he has helped communities multiple times reeling from various challenges. He is the recipient of multiple awards such as Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture, Primetime Emmy Governors Award, People’s Choice Award for People’s Champion – among many others.
MOHAMMED FATHI AHMED IBRAHIM, 1.3 BILLION NET WORTH 🇸🇩 🇬🇧
Mr. Ibrahim is a Sudanese-British enterprenuer and engineer who holds several degrees – BCs from Alexandria University, MSc from University of Bradford and a PHD from Birmingham University.
In 1998, he founded Celtel, a telecommunications company that provided cellphone services in 14 African countries. In 2005, Zain Group a Kuwait company based in Amsterdam, Netherlands acquired Celtel for 3.5 billion. Mr. Ibrahim pocketed 1.4 billion from the deal.
He founded the Mo Ibrahim Foundation to improve governance and fight corruption in Africa. The Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG) is a tool that measures and monitors governance performance in African countries.
He also chairs Satya Capital, an independent investment firm focused on securing excellent opportunities across Private Equity, Public Equities & Credit, and Venture. Satya has a particular focus on Africa, but invests across all Frontier markets and Globally – company website.
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